Suspension system for building construction



SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1966 Aug.13, 1968 J. CONTEVITA INVENTOR. (fan-1M C0-TEVI734 M am &4 mod 5Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 13, 1968 J. CONTEVITA 3,395,502

SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1966 5Sheets-Sheet 2 Aug. 13, 1968 .1. CONTEVITA 3,396,502

SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.aka/v Co ray/74' Filed April 15, 1966 W m M A rrae/vevs Aug. 13, 1968Filed April 15, 1966 J. CONTEVITA SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR BUILDINGCONSTRUCTION 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 'INVENTOR. c/mv Ca/vrEr/M g- 13, 1968 J.CONTEVITA 3,396,502

SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION Filed April 15, 1966 5Sheets-Sheet 5 o v fig! 10 116 Ji W INVENLIOR. I 12 c/OHA/ Cat/7. 97734F L; (160 [153 ye; mm M United States Patent 3,396,502 SUSPENSION SYSTEMFOR BUILDING CONSTRUCTION John Contevita, La Mirada, Calif., assignor toInternational Environmental Dynamics, Palo Alto, Calif., a

corporation of California Filed Apr. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 542,880 2Claims. (Cl. 52-236) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A suspension system forsupporting a plurality of floors from a pair of building towers by meansof tension members secured to the floors and to the towers, the elementsof the suspension system being arranged to resist lateral swaying of thetowers.

The present invention relates to improvements in building constructionand, more particularly, to a novel suspension system for a buildingconstruction.

In the construction of large, multi-story buildings, it is commonpractice to first excavate for the basement and foundation of thebuilding. The foundation is then poured and a metal framework erectedfor the entire building. Finally, the floors of the building areconstructed one at a time working from the basement up to the top of thebuilding.

Constructing the floors of the building one at a time is a very slowprocess involving many time delays. The consecutive building of thefloors also requires the different types of workmen to return for theconstruction of each floor further introducing wasted time and addingmuch expense to the over-all cost of the multist-ory building.

Recently, a new form of building construction has been proposed whichallows the floors of the building to be constructed substantially at thesame time thereby materially reducing the time required to complete thebuilding, substantially eliminating wasted workmens time, andcorrespondingly reducing the cost of constructing the building.

The recently proposed building construction may be termed a hangingbuilding construction and comprises a pair of laterally spaced, hollowconcrete cores, and a suspension system. The suspension system includesfront and rear rigid trusses connected to the tops of the cores andextending therebetween. Hanger members extend vertically from thetrusses and provide connections for a plurality of horizontal floorsupporting members.

The floor supporting members are preferably part of separate, flat,reinforced concrete floors which are formed on the ground and lifted oneat a time into place with all the necessary materials for completing theconstruction of the building supported thereon. Once the floorsupporting members are secured to the hanger members, the floors of thebuilding may be completed rapidly and without wasted or lost time on thepart of the different types of workmen.

Unfortunately, in the hanging-type building construction, the trussesare extremely heavy and expensive units requiring special reinforcing.Due to the rigidity of the trusses and the junctions of their componentmembers, secondary stresses are developed in the component membersduring any movement of the trusses, as during an earth trembler orduring heavy winds. This requires the trusses to be specially designedand carefully assembled particularly at the welded junctions of thecomponent members.

In view of these shortcomings, it is an object of the present inventionto provide an improved hanging-type building construction employing asimplified, relatively lightweight suspension system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedbuilding construction of the foregoing character where the improvedsuspension system is relatively inexpensive and easy to assemble, yet isextremely rugged and long lasting.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedsuspension system for hanging-type building constructions in whichsecondary stresses are virtually eliminated at the junctions of thecomponent parts thereby allowing the suspension system to be of arelatively lightweight, relatively inexpensive construction requiring aminimum of reinforcing members.

The foregoing as well as other objects and advantages of the presentinvention may be more clearly understood by reference to the followingdetailed description when considered with the drawings, which, by way ofexample only, illustrate several hanging-type building constructions andsuspension systems embodying the features of the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front view of a hanging-type building constructionincluding a pair of laterally spaced towers and one form of suspensionsystem of the present invention;

FIGURE 1a is a fragmentary top view taken along the line la-la in FIGURE1 and illustrating the manner of connection for suporting members to oneside of a tower in the building construction;

FIGURE 1b is an enlarged front view of the corresponding circled portionof FIGURE 1 illustrating the connection for supportin members to the topof a tower in the building construction;

FIGURE 2 is a side view of the building construction illustrated inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the building construction illustrated inFIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view of the correspondingly circled portion ofthe building construction of FIGURE 1 illustrating the manner ofconnection for the supporting members to a horizontal stiffening member;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIGURE 4illustrating the manner of connection of one of the supporting membersfrom the tower to the stiffening member;

FIGURE 5a is a sectional view taken along the line 5a-5a in FIGURE 4illustrating a reinforcing for the supporting member;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken along the line 6-6 in FIGURE 4illustrating the manner of connection for another supporting member tothe stiffening member adjacent the tower;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 7-7 in FIGURE 4illustrating the reinforced construction of a portion of the stifieningmember;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged view of the correspondingly circled portion ofthe building construction of FIGURE 1 illustrating the manner ofconnection of a vertical hanger member to a horizontal floor supportingmember;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary top view taken along the line 9-9 in FIGURE 8,illustrating the manner in which the vertical hanger member extendsthrough the horizontal floor supporting member;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged view of correspondingly circled portion of thebuilding construction illustrated in FIGURE 3 and showing the connectionof horizontal floor supporting members and a bumper unit included in acorner of a tower to prevent damage to the tower upon swinging movementof the floors of the building relative to the towers;

FIGURE 11 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 in FIGUREFIGURE 12 is a diagrammatic representation of the suspension system ofFIGURE 1 illustrating the deformation of the suspension system during anearthquake or other sudden movement of the towers of the buildingconstruction and the bending motion imparted to the structural membersof the suspension system;

FIGURE 13 is a diagrammatic representation of a stabilized suspensionsystem similar to the suspension system of FIGURE 1 illustrating thedeflection of the towers during an earthquake and depicting the rigidityof the stabilized suspension system;

FIGURE 14 is a front view of the stabilized suspension systemdiagrammatically represented in FIGURE 13;

FIGURE 15 is an enlarged view of a correspondingly circled portion ofthe suspension system of FIGURE 14 illustrating the manner of connectionof a supporting member to a horizontal stiffening member;

FIGURE 16 is a sectional view taken along the line 1616 in FIGURE 15;

FIGURE 17 is a diagrammatic representation of a catenary-type suspensionsystem embodying the features of the present invention;

FIGURE 18 is a plan view of the suspension system of FIGURE 17; and

FIGURE 19 is a fragmentary top view taken along the line 19-19 in FIGURE17.

In the drawings, the hanging-type building construction is representedgenerally by the numeral 10 and comprises a pair of laterally spacedvertical towers 12 and 14 and a suspension system 16. The suspensionsystem 16 is connected between the tops of the towers 12 and 14 andsupports a plurality of vertical hanger straps 18 which, in turn,provide connections for a plurality of floor supporting members 20.

The towers 12 and 14 are preferably hollow cores of rectangular crosssection formed of reinforced concrete. The towers extend vertically fromfoundation slabs 22 and 24 buried in the ground and support thesuspension system 16 at their top ends.

The suspension system 16 illustrated in FIGURES 1-12 is symmetricalabout the center line of the building construction 10 and comprises aplurality of parallel pairs of relatively long and relatively shortsupporting straps 26a and 268, a pair of tie members 28, and two pairsof stiffener members 30.

A parallel pair of supporting straps 26a and a parallel pair ofsupporting straps 26b are associated with and each pivotally connectedat one end to each of the right and left sides of the towers 12 and 14at the upper, front and rear corners thereof.

The tie members 28 are horizontal, substantially parallel memberspivotally connected at opposite ends to the right side and the left sideof the towers 12 and 14 directly below the connections of the associatedpairs of straps 26a and 26b to the towers, the other ends of the strapsbeing pivotally connected to the tie members.

The stiffener members 30 are also horizontal members and are pivotallyconnected to the left side and right side of the towers 12 and 14,directly under the connec tions of the associated pairs of straps 26aand 26b to the towers, the other ends of the straps being pivotallyconnected to the stiffener members.

The connections of the supporting straps 26a and 26b to the tie andstiffener members cause the straps to extend diagonally downward awayfrom the associated towers. Thus arranged, each pair of supportingstraps 26a and 26b carries a vertical hanger strap 18 at its lower end.In particular, the vertical hanger straps 18 are pivotally connected tojunctions of the pairs of supporting straps 26a and 26b, and the tiemembers 28 and stiffener members 30 with the horizontal floor supportingmembers connected at vertically spaced points along the hanger membersto complete the suspension system 16.

In the suspension system 16, the weight of the hanger members 18 andfloor support members 28 maintains the supporting straps 26a and 26b intension at all times, while the tie members 28 and stiffener members 30'are continuously in compression to resist movement of the junctions ofthe hangers and support straps toward the towers. Accordingly, thesupporting straps are constructed to be tension resisting members whilethe tie members and stiffener members are compression resisting members.

In order to resist separation of the pivot connections of the supportingstraps 26a and 26b from the towers 12 and 14, and to resist anyunbalance of forces at the tops of the towers due to differences inloading of the hanger straps 18, tension resisting members 32 reinforcethe front and rear top edges of the towers and connect the front pivotconnections and the rear pivot connections of the pairs of straps 26aand 26b to the towers. The structural arrangement of the frontmostmembers 32, as well as preferred forms of pivotal connections of thepairs of straps 26a and 26b to the towers 12 and 14 are clearlyillustrated in FIGURES 1a and 112.

As represented in FIGURES la and 1b, the tension resisting members 32are I-beams supported on the tops of the towers 12 and 14 by gussetplates 34 embedded in the reinforced concrete of the towers at the uppercorners thereof. Opposite ends of the members 32 extend beyond the rightand left sides of the towers to receive and pivotally connect to theupper ends of the pairs of straps 26a and 26b.

In this regard, the ends of the upper flanges 35 of the members 32 arecut back to the sides of the towers. In addition, longitudinallyextending slots 36 are cut in the ends of bottom flanges 37 on oppositesides of the central webs 38 of the members 32 to provide two openingsat the ends of each member for receiving the upper ends of a differentpair of supporting straps 26a. Beyond the sides of the towers 12 and 14,the bottom flanges 37 are reinforced by a plurality of gusset plates 39and rectangular plates 40. The gusset plates 39 act as corner braces forthe bottom flanges 37 and are welded thereto and to sides of the gussetplates 34. The rectangular plates 40 are welded to the top and bottomflanges of the members 32 and project outwardly therefrom to act asspacers between the upper ends of the pairs of supporting straps 26a and26b connected to the members 32.

As illustrated most clearly in FIGURE 1a, the upper ends of the pairs ofsupporting straps 26a extend vertically through the slots 36 while theupper ends of the straps 26b extend vertically on the outside of theplates 40 at the front and rear of the bottom flanges 37. Thus arranged,the supporting straps are pivotally connected to the members 32 by a pin41 extending horizontally through openings 42 in the rectangular plates40, central web 38 and ends of the straps and held in place by cotterkeys 43.

As will be described hereinafter, somewhat similar vertical pivotalconnections are provided at other junctions in the suspension system 16to effectively eliminate secondary stresses in the component members ofthe system upon changes in the loadings of the members or movement orbending of the suspension system and building construction 10, as duringearth tremblers. This allows the use of lighter weight, less expensivematerials than those employed in suspension systems wherein the membersare fixedly welded together.

The pivotal connections of the pairs of supporting straps 26a and 26b toone of the stiffener members 30 for the tower 12 as well as the pivotalconnection for the stiffener member to the tower are illustrated in FIG-URES 4-7. Similar pivotal connections are provided for the pairs ofsupporting straps 26a and 26b to the tie members 28 and for the tiemembers to the towers. Therefore, the illustrations of FIGURES 4-7 andthe descriptions associated therewith apply directly to the pivotalconnections associated with the tie members 28, supporting straps 26aand 26b and towers 12 and 14 and will not be repeated herein.

As illustrated, the stiffener member (as well as each tie member 28) isan I-beam. Adjacent the lower 12, the top and bottom flanges 44 and 45of the I-beam are cut back and the web 46 extends between a pair oflaterally extending cars 47 connected to a flat support plate 48. Thesupport plate 48 is embedded in the reinforced concrete of the tower 12and is welded to the ends of the reinforcing rods for the concrete. Theears 47 as well as the web 46 include aligned holes 52 for receiving apin member 54. The pin member 54 extends horizontally through the holes52 to pivotally connect the stiffener member 30 to the side of the tower12 and is secured in place by cotter keys 56 extending through the pinoutside the ears 46. The stiffener member 30 is thus adapted forvertical swinging movement about the side of the tower 12 with movementof the building construction.

To allow for the pivotal connection of the pair of supporting straps 26aand associated hanger strap 18 to a left end portion of the stiffenermember 30, the upper and lower flanges 44 and of the I-beam includelongitudinally extending slots 58 and 60 on each side of the web 46 forreceiving the lower ends of the supporting straps (see FIGURES 4 and 5).Similarly, longitudinally extending slots 62 and 64 are included in theupper and lower flanges and a portion of the central web is removed toprovide openings for receiving the upper end of the hanger strap 18.Inner and outer reinforcing plates 66 and 68 are welded to the top andbottom flanges 44 and 45 on each side of the central web 46 asillustrated in FIGURE 5. The reinforcing plates as well as the endportions of the supporting and hanger straps 26a and 18 include holes 69for receiving a horizontal pin 70 which, when positioned through theholes, is held in place by cotter keys 72 extending through the pin onthe outside of the reinforcing plates '68. Thus connected, thesupporting and hanger straps 26a and 18 are adapted for verticalswinging movement about the horizontal pin 70 with movement of thesuspension system 16 and building 10.

As illustrated in FIGURES 4, 5a and 7, additional reinforcing isprovided for the supporting straps 26a and stiffener member 30. Inparticular, at spaced intervals along the length of the parallelsupporting straps 26a, spacer blocks 74 are welded to the inner surfacesof the straps and together to rigidly connect the straps. Similar- 1y,adjacent the pivot connection of the supporting and hanger straps,filler plates 76 are inserted between the reinforcing plates 66 and thecentral web 46 and the combination welded together as indicated at 78.

The pivotal connection of the supporting and hanger straps 26b and 18 toa right end portion of the stiffener member 30 is illustrated in FIGURES4 and 6. As represented, the outer edges of the upper and lower flanges44 and 45 of the I-beam are relieved to receive lower ends of thesupporting straps 26b. In addition, a portion of the central web 46 isremoved to define longitudinally extending slots 80 and 82 in the upperand lower flanges 44 and 45 for receiving the upper end of the hangerstrap 18. Inner and outer reinforcing plates 84 and 86 are welded to thetop and bottom flanges 44 and 45 on each side of the web 46 asillustrated in FIGURE 6. The reinforcing plates 84 and 86 as well as theend portions of the supporting and hanger straps 26b and 18 includeholes 87 for receiving a horizontal pin 88 which, when positionedthrough the holes, is held in place by cotter keys 90 extending throughthe pin on the outside of the straps 26b. Thus secured, the supportingstraps 26b and hanger strap 18 are adapted for vertical swingingmovement about the pin 88 with motion of the building and suspensionsystem.

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate the manner in which the hanger straps 18 areconnected to the floor support members 20. As represented, the floorsupporting member 20 are back-to-back channels including verticallyextending central openings 92 reinforced by plates 94 and 96 welded tothe top and bottom flanges of the members 20. The openings 92 areadapted to receive the hanger straps 18 which are in turn connected tothe central web of the members 20 by a bolt and nut combination 98.

Thus connected to the hanger straps 18, the floor supporting members 20'provide primary support for a rectangular array of reinforcing membersfor each floor of the building 10. The array of reinforcing members forthe top floor of the building 10 is most clearly illustrated in FIGURE 3and provides a rigid base for a concrete floor which, as previouslydescribed, is formed on the ground and lifted into place during theassembly of the building construction 10.

In the building construction 10, the floor reinforcing members and floorsupporting member 20 are supported solely by the hanger straps 18 andare not connected directly to the towers 12 and 14. The clearancebetween the towers and the reinforcing members is most clearly depictedin FIGURE 10 which also illustrates a bumper unit 99 for preventingwearing of one corner of the reinforced concrete toward 12 upon movementof the floors of the building construction toward and away from thetower.

In FIGURE 10, the reinforcing members include an I-beam 100 extendingfrom the front to the rear of the floor of the building and an I-beam102 extending from the right to the left side of the tower 12 to connectto an I-beam similar to 100 running along the left side of the tower.The I-beams 100 and 102 are fixedly connected together via a gussetplate 104 which also provides connection from a channel member 106 toone side of the I-beam 100.

The bumper unit 99 includes a pair of pins 108 and 110, and a bent,metal plate 112. The pins 108 and 110 are connected to the top of thegusset plate 104 and extend inwardly toward the front and right side ofthe tower 12 and face the plate 112 which is embedded in the corner ofthe tower with small reinforcing rods 114 extending into the concrete. Asimilar bumper unit is included at each corner of the towers 12 and 14for each floor of the building construction 10. Therefore, should anyrelative movement occur between the towers and the floors of thebuilding causing the floors to swing toward the towers, the pins 108 or110 will engage the plates 112 to prevent wearing of the reinforcedconcrete comprising the towers.

The movements imparted to the building construction 10 and suspensionsystem 16 during earth tremblers are diagrammatically illustrated inFIGURE 12 with the phantom outline representing the shifted position ofthe towers 12 and 14 and the bent configuration of the tie and stiffenermembers 28 and 30.

The deflection (A) of the towers 12 and 14 as well as the movement ofthe suspension system 16 can be greatly decreased by the addition of astabilizing unit 116 to the suspension system, as diagrammaticallyillustrated in FIGURE 13. As represented, the stabilization unit 116eliminates all noticeable bending and deflection of the componentscomprising the suspension system 16 and materially reduces thedeflection, A, of the tops of the towers 12 and 14.

With the addition of the stabilization unit 116, however, the tie means28 of the system 16 takes the form of two stiffener members 28a and 28bpivotally connected to the towens 12 and 14 and an intermediatestructural member 117 pivotally connected to the stiffener members andto the supporting straps 26a. Also, the supporting straps 26a as well asthe member 117 are I-beams-the flanges at the lower ends of the strapsbeing cut back to enable the central webs to be pivotally connected tothe member 117.

The stabilization unit 116 includes like structural arrangements at thefront and rear of the suspension system 16. However, only the frontarrangement is illustrated in the drawings and described herein.

As illustrated in FIGURES 14, and 16, the front structural arrangementcomprises pairs of vertical left and right side members 118 and 120, twopairs of crossing angle members 122 and 124, a horizontal top member126, and two prestressed tie bars 128 and 130. The vertical members 122and 124 are I-beams rigidly connected at their upper ends to left andright end portions of the top member 126 while the flanges at the lowerends of the I-beams are cut back to allow the central web to bepivotally connected to the junctions of the tie member 117 and the pairsof supporting straps 26a.

The tie bars 128 and 130 :are connected at their right and left ends,respectively, to the left and right ends of the top member 126 byclevises 131 and 132 while the other ends of the tie bars are pivotallyconnected to the towers 12 and 14. To pivotally connect the tie bars 128and 130 to the towers and to prestress the tie bars, clevises 133 areconnected to the ends of the pins 40 pivotally connecting the supportingstraps 26a and 26b to the member 30. Threaded stub shafts 134 extendfrom the clevises 133 and into threaded holes in turnbuckles 135.Threaded stub shafts 136 connected to the left and right ends of the tiebars 128 and 130 extend into the other threaded holes in the turnbucklesto complete the pivotal connections. When it is desired to prestress therods 128 and 130, the turnbuckles 135 are simply rotated to draw thestub shafts into the turnbuckle.

In the stabilization unit 116, the upper ends of the pair of anglemembers 122 are welded to upper end portions of the vertical member 118adjacent the junction with the top member 126, while the lower ends arewelded to lower end portions of the vertical members 120 adjacent thepivotal connection to the structural member 117. Similarly, the upperends of the pair of angle members 124 are welded to upper end portionsof the vertical members 120 adjacent the junction with the top member126 while the lower ends are welded to lower end portions of thevertical members 118 adjacent the pivotal connection to the structuralmember .117.

The pivotal connection of the right end of the structural member 117,adjacent stiffener member 28b, hanger strap 18, supporting straps 26aand vertical members 120 is illustrated in FIGURES 15 and 16. Asrepresented, in order to receive the central webs of the lower ends ofthe vertical members 120, the top flange of the stiffener member 2812includes a longitudinally extending slot 137 on each side of the centralweb of the I-beam comprising the stiffener member. To receive the upperend of the hanger strap 18, the lower flange of the stiffener member 26band a portion of the central web is removed to define top and bottomlongitudinally extending slots 138 in the I-beam. Mates 139 are weldedto the top and bottom flanges of the structural member 117 on oppositesides of its central web and extend beyond the left end of the memberbetween the vertical members 120 and the straps 26a. Likewise, plates140 are welded to the top and bottom flanges of the stiffener member 28bon opposite sides of its central web and extend to the left between thehanger straps 18 and the vertical members 120. The plates 139 and 140include aligned holes for receiving a pin 141 which also passes throughlike holes in the vertical members 120 and hanger strap 18. Cotter keys142 extend through the pin 141 outside the straps 26a to secure the pinin place and complete the pivotal connection.

Thus connected, the hanger and supporting straps 18 and 26a as well asthe vertical members 120 are adapted for vertical movement about the pin141 with movement of the building construction 10.

Should an earth trembler occur, however, the stabilization unit 116imparts rigidity to the suspension system 16 resisting any bending ordeflection of its component parts and materially decreasing thedeflection, A, of the towers 12 and 14 in the building construction. Forexample,

should an earth trembler occur which causes the towers 12 and 14 to swayto the left as illustrated in FIGURE 13, bending moments are developedin the stabilized susspension system which oppose such swaying movementof the towers. In particular, as the towers 12 and 14 sway to the left,downward forces are exerted on the junction of the vertical members andthe member 117, and upward forces are exerted on the junction of themember 117 and the vertical member 118. These forces, however, areopposed by forces developed at junctions of the verticals 118 and 120and the top member 126 to maintain the relative position of the memberscomprising the suspension system. Lateral forces are also developed inthe system 16 which oppose the swaying movement of the towers. In thismanner, the stabilization unit 116 acts as a lever developing forces andmoments in opposition to those developed by the swaying towers 12 and 14during an earth trembler or during high winds.

An alternate form of the portion of the suspension system between towers12 and 14 is diagrammatically illustrated in FIGURES 17, 18 and 19, andrepresented by the numeral 143. Generally speaking, the portion 143 ofthe suspension system comprises a front and a back series of pairs ofparallel supporting straps. The front series is connected at one end tothe upper front right corner of the tower 12 and at the other end to theupper front left corner of the tower 14 While the rear series isconnected at one end to the upper rear right corner of the tower 12 andat the other end to the upper rear left corner of the tower 14.

The front and rear series are identical in construction. Therefore, onlythe front series is illustrated in the drawings and includes a pluralityof pairs of parallel straps 144, 146, 148, and 152 connected to formcatenarylike suspension between the towers 12 and 14. In this respect,the ends of the pairs of straps 144 and 152 are pivotally connected otthe right side and left side of the towers 12 and 14 in substantiallythe same manner that the straps 26a were connected to the member 30 inFIG- URES 1a andlb. That is, the upper ends of the pairs of straps 144and 152 pass through slots on opposite sides of the central webs ofI-beams extending across the tops of the towers 12 and 14 and arepivotally connected thereto by horizontal pins 153. The other end of thepairs of straps 144 and 152 are pivotally connected to one end of thepair of straps 146 and the pair of straps 150 while the other ends ofthe pairs of straps 146 and 150 are pivotally connected to opposite endsof the pair of straps 148. As represented in FIGURE 18, each of thesepivotal connections comprises a pin member 154- extending throughaligned openings in the pairs of straps. The pins 154 also pass throughopening in the upper end portions of hanger straps 156 to providepivotal connections of a plurality of hanger straps to the series ofsupporting straps. The hanger straps 156 may be similar to the straps 18and provide means for connecting and supporting a plurality of floorsupporting members for the associated building construction.

In addition to the front and rear series of supporting straps, theportion 143 of the suspension system includes front and rear compressionresisting member 158 pivotally connected at opposite ends to the rightside and left side of the towers 12 and 14 under the front and rearseries, respectively. Again, only the front member is illustrated in thedrawings. As represented, openings 160 are included in the member 158,to receive the vertically extending hanger straps 156.

The suspension system including the portion 143 has the advantages ofbeing very simple in design and construction, and of being relativelylightweight. The suspension system employing the portion 143 alsoeliminates the individual horizontal compression members between thesupporting straps and the only compressive members necessary are thecontinuous members 158 between the towers 12 and 14 which resistrelative movement of the two towers.

From the foregoing description, it is appreciated that the presentinvention provides an improved hanging-type building constructionemploying a simplified, relatively lightweight, yet extremely strong andstable suspension system which is rugged and long lasting. Also, thesuspension system is relatively inexpensive and easy to rapidlyreassemble. Further, secondary stresses are substantially eliminated bythe pivotal connection provided in the suspensions system.

While particular forms of suspension systems for hanging-type buildingconstructions have been described in some detail herein, changes andmodifications may be made in the illustrated forms without departingfrom the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that thepresent invention be limited in scope only by the terms of the followingclaims.

I claim: 1. A suspension system for a building construction, comprising;

left and right laterally separated towers; first and second elongatedsupporting members pivotally connected at the upper ends thereof to saidleft tower and extending diagonally downwardly and outwardly of the leftand right sides thereof of said left tower, said second supportingmember being capable of taking both tension and compression loads;

third and fourth elongated supporting members pivotally connected at theupper ends thereof to said right tower and extending diagonallydownwardly and outwardly of the left and right sides of said righttower, said third supporting member being capable of taking both tensionand compression loads;

elongated tie means having the opposite ends thereof bearing againstsaid left and right towers, and pivotally connected intermediate saidopposite ends thereof to the lower ends of said second and thirdsupporting members, said tie means being capable of taking compressionloads to maintain said lower ends in spaced relation with the right andleft sides of said left and right towers, respectively; meansmaintaining the lower ends of said first and fourth supporting membersin spaced relation with the left and right sides of said left and righttowers, respectively; and a plurality of vertically oriented hangermembers pivotally connected at their upper ends to said tie means andextending downwardly for supporting substantially horizontally orientedfloor members. 2. The suspension system of claim 1, wherein said systemfurther includes elongated members capable of taking tension loadsconnected at their opposite ends between said first and secondsupporting members and between said third and fourth supporting members,respectively.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,895,734 1/1933 Rush 14182,622,546 12/1952 Kramrisch 14-19 X 2,642,598 6/1953 Beretta 14-183,254,466 6/1966 Von Heidenstam 52745 3,260,028 7/1966 Fraser 52126 X3,292,313 12/1966 Entwistle 52236 X 3,299,588 1/1967 Arnold 52236 XFOREIGN PATENTS 634,500 1/ 1962 Canada.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. C. G. MUELLER, Assistant Examiner.

